By GEORGE MAHL

RESERVE – Even though it was only one season, the memories for the players and coaches of the unbeaten state champion 1980 East St. John High School football team will last a lifetime.

Several of the 1980 Wildcats were honored, as well as then-head coach Phil Greco, Monday night at the ESJ Booster Club meeting. Most of the former players remember before the season how little respect they were given from the media.

“You could say that we were overachievers that year. Everyone was talking about how great (John) Ehret (High School) was going to be and how West Jefferson (High School) was going to be a big favorite, but they did not even mention how we were going to be,” said Wade Delaneuville, defensive back and quarterback on the 1980 team. Delaneuville got to play quarterback beginning with the third game of the season after starting QB Timmy Byrd was injured.

“I think everyone stepped up to the plate when they had to that year. If one went down, someone came in and got the job done,” said former offensive tackle Garret Trosclair.

Fellow teammate Joe Shine, added, “I think everyone forgot about us off after Timmy went down. It just goes to show you the character our guys had that year.”

Former linebacker Fred Cook said the team was just one big family.

“We earned our respect because no one would give it,” Cook said.

The turning point for the Wildcats during the 1980 season was a game against West Jefferson. Trailing 19-14 with less than a minute remaining, ESJ managed to come back and win the game on a late touchdown.

“That was crucial. If we would have lost that game, then we would have had no shot at even winning district,” said Delaneuville.

Other tough games during the season were against Destrehan, Belaire, and Ehret.

“The Ehret game was a dog fight,” said former defensive tackle Shane Weber.

Greco agreed with the players’ assessments of the tough games, but he believes the game against Lutcher was the Reserve school’s biggest win that year.

“The crowd at the game was unbelievable. It was like a crowd you would see at Mardi Gras. Players were nervous because of the crowd,” Greco said.

The victory over the Bulldogs in 1980 was the first ESJ win against Lutcher in 10 years. The playoff run for ESJ came in November with a game against Archbishop Shaw in the Superdome. The year before, the Eagles defeated the Wildcats near the end of the season.

“I remember the game in 1979 because it was cold, rainy, and windy. It was also on Thanksgiving night,” said Shine, a former offensive guard.

No one really gave East St. John a chance to win the game against Shaw. However, the Wildcats proved all the critics wrong and defeated the Eagles to advance to the second round of the playoffs.

” We just ran over them the second time,” Weber said.

Following the game against Shaw, the Wildcats defeated Neville High School to advance to the state championship game against Barbe High School of Lake Charles.

“Barbe was supposed to blow us out that night. They were supposed to dominate,” Greco said.

The game, played in Lake Charles, featured a crowd of 19,000 screaming fans.

“The crowd was so hyped it felt like we were playing for the college national championship,” said Cook.

Shine added, “We played a game at Riverside where the crowd was wild, but it was nothing like this.”

The key play that led to the victory was a tackle late in the game made by Cook. Greco described the tackle as “one of the greatest tackles of all time.” The tackle, which was right in the chest, prevented Barbe from winning the game.

“I always wanted to thank Fred for making that play,” Greco said with a smile.

During the season, Cook was punished once for being 10 minutes late to practice. As a result, Greco made him run sprints up and down the field. After doing several, Cook said he was not even breathing hard and Greco was left scratching his head.

“I said, ‘Fred how can you run that fast and not even be breathing hard?’ His response was, ‘Coach I am used to running a lot because my car broke down and I have to run five miles to school and five miles home everyday,'” Greco said.

One thing both coaches and players agreed was the discipline the championship team’s players had as a character trait.

“The kids listened and did what they were supposed to do. That was a very important part of the season,” said Greco, who is now athletic director at Rummel High School.

Cook added, “If someone talked back to a teacher or coach, they were off the team.”

Trosclair said, in his opinion, some of the members of the current ESJ Wildcats team lack discipline. ” When we were playing we had to stand and sing the national anthem. I’ve seen some guys who could care less about things like that,” he said.

Probably the biggest difference today as opposed to 22 year ago, according to the players, is tackling. “I don’t think any school really practices tackling much. It needs to be addressed,” Cook said.